Hour of the Lion

Without waiting for her agreement, he ran his palms down her neck, her shoulders, her arms. His touch was firm and cool against her overheated skin. Stunned at the way his touch felt on her body, she stood still. Picking up her limp hand, he washed her fingers with the foam, then massaged the plump part of her palm just below her thumb.

“Did you know this is called the Venus mound for the goddess of love?” He nipped the spot and sent a wave of lust up her arm and straight down to her groin.

“Calum…”

He stroked the soap over her biceps, massaging her muscles as if he was a well-schooled bath attendant. “Turn, little female,” he murmured, guiding her until she faced away from him. She should protest, but he wasn’t trying to grope her breasts, he was…

Hard fingers dug into her aching shoulders. “Oooh, God.”

“Your backpack was too heavy.” He’d argued with her before they left the cabin, wanting to carry their gear himself. Like that would happen.

“Mmmmh.” He could scold all he wanted if he just kept his hands pressing away the soreness.

“Stubborn.” With a soft laugh, he squeezed her trapezius muscles to the point of pain, then released his grip. As the blood flowed back into the relaxed tissues, she couldn’t suppress a moan. His fingers traced the scars from Lachlan’s bite, and he kissed the spot before continuing.

She couldn’t move. It was like he’d cast a net over her with his sure touch, rendering her helpless. When her legs wobbled, he wrapped a hard arm around her waist, his hand resting just below one breast.

“We’re not finished, Victoria.” He nipped the nape of her neck, sending a jolt of electricity straight to her pussy.

And yet, the surge of heat wakened her from the spell. Her mind-and conscience-flicked on. He intended to have sex. She pulled away and turned. “Calum, no. This isn’t right. Alec-”

“Victoria, Alec knows we will make love.” He moved close enough that the stiff peaks of her breasts rubbed his chest, then cupped her chin in his steady hand. “Look at me, cariad.”

Her gaze lifted as if compelled. Don’t let him talk you into this, sergeant. “What does cariad mean?”

“It means darling.” His thumb stroked her lower lip. “Alec and I often…share…our women. Alone or together.”

Two men? Oh God. A wicked lick of heat swept through her body. She pressed her hands against his chest and hesitated, disconcerted by his rock-hard muscles. “No. I don’t believe you. I won’t risk hurting him.” Her body throbbed with the need for sex, but hurting Alec wasn’t something she’d do.

“It pleases me that you worry about my brother’s happiness.” His determined hands closed over hers and lifted them to his face. His beard shadow scratched her palms, sending an odd excitement through her. He smiled slightly and dragged his jaw slowly across her palms. When his gaze lowered to her breasts, as if imagining how his beard would feel against the tender skin, her body melted.

“No,” she whispered and tried to step back.

His grip never loosened. “Victoria, I give you my word that Alec approves of you being with me.” His steady gaze met hers.

Somehow she knew down to her bones that he wouldn’t lie to her. “That’s just…”

“It’s a shifter thing, and we’ll talk about it later.”

She opened her mouth, and his eyes darkened. “Later, little female. I have things I wish to do to you now.”

The hard, slightly rough statement eradicated her resolve. Her knees almost gave out. “But…”

“Shhh.” He nipped her fingers, the tiny pains erotic, and then put his big hands around her waist and set her onto the hip-high rock ledge at the side. The surface of the water rippled over it and the flat stone was warm under her bottom.

He pushed her legs open and pulled her forward until his very hard erection pressed against her heat. She gasped, feeling her control slipping.

“That’s right, cariad. You needn’t think.” He grasped her nape, guiding her lips to his, holding her as his tongue plunged inside to echo the rocking of his cock at her entrance.

His free hand covered her breast, cupping and stroking in such a way that when he finally reached the nipple, she was taut in anticipation. With only one calloused finger, he touched the peak, his touch so light, she arched into him for more. He chuckled, and his fingers closed, pressing gently on the tip. Like an electric shock, desire shot in a sizzling line to her clit.

She gasped and he took advantage, taking his kiss even deeper. His fingers rolled her nipple, the pressure growing past pleasure, bordering on pain, and yet her body shook with arousal. As her breast throbbed, he moved to the other, teasing until it swelled to match the first. Until her sex pulsed in time with her breasts.

Her head spun, and she clutched his shoulders. The hard muscles under her fingers lured her hands to stroke up his back.

He rumbled his pleasure. When he released her mouth, she felt as if she was melting right into the hot water. He regarded her for a moment, then smiled. His hand pressed on her sternum. “Lie back, cariad.”

Unable to fight him, she reclined onto the warm rock. The silky water lapped at her sides and her pussy, heating her skin.

“Pretty little female,” he murmured. His thumbs gently pulled her folds apart, then he bent, and his tongue slid over her sex. Like Alec had done. A tremor ran through her.

“No.” She tried to sit up, “I don’t want that.” Too intimate, too vulnerable, giving him too much control. “Just fuck me.”

His head lifted. He met her gaze, and his eyes narrowed as he studied her. His face softened, although she saw a crease appear in his cheek. “All right then.”

With ruthless hands, he flipped her onto her stomach. Her legs dangled down, and his thighs moved them apart. A hard hand slid under her pelvis, and he lifted, tilting her hips up to him. A second’s pause. His cock pressed against her, slickening in her wetness, and then he entered her with one hard thrust.

“Aaaa!” So big. Her fingers clawed at the rock as she struggled to adjust to his size. She’d asked for this, only she hadn’t expected to feel…taken. That he’d stolen the control from her even more.

He didn’t move, his groin against her bottom. “Breathe, little female.”

She inhaled. Again. “Okay,” she said, trying not to sound breathless. “Go ahead.”

His deep voice flowed over her like honey as he said, “Oh I will, cariad.” To her shock, the fingers under her pelvis moved down into her pubic hair. He tugged on the strands, creating tiny pinpricks of sensation. The whole center of her body was turning into a massive ache, and his cock wasn’t moving.

He touched her entrance where she was stretched so tightly around his shaft and ran one of his slickened fingers over her throbbing clit. She jerked at the blast of sensation.

“What are you doing?” Her blood was singing in her veins.

“Exactly what I want to.” His finger slid over and around her clit, ruthlessly driving it into hardness, until it was so engorged it hurt. When she wiggled, he set a hand on her bottom, holding her in place as his other drove her mad.

Her mind started to go fuzzy. “Calum, no.”

“At this point, cariad,” he murmured, “you do not command. You may beg, if you feel the need.”

Fuck. Goddamn. He knew just where to press, sliding his finger in to join his huge cock, and up over her clit until her entire pussy felt like one throbbing nerve. And there he held her until she whimpered, her hips tilting to get his touch…there. She was panting, little moans, unable to think, to protest as he drove her higher. If he’d just touch -

Instead, he pulled out and inexorably back in. With the slow slide of his cock, pleasure vibrated through her system. Her eyes felt like they were rolling back in her head. Her vagina clamped around him, her thigh muscles trembled as his light touch moved closer to her clit and then farther away. The pressure coiled tighter and tighter, and somehow knowing he wouldn’t let her escape, sent her even higher until nothing remained in her mind except the slow thrust into her vagina and his circling finger.

“That’s right,” he said softly. “I’m teaching you that you do not need to control everything. Let go, cariad. I will take care of you.”